Writing Letters

[SFG75]

I think this will be my Autumn project, mornings of attending to my letter writing. My letters will never be preserved for posterity, but I thank goodness email wasnt around in Jane Austen's day.

And Sirmyk, that took me a minute or two to decipher.....

Just think, generations from now, children will wonder what "LOL," "IMHO," LMFAO," and other things meant. They'll also probably wonder what books were.

 

[aube]

There's one net lingo that I don't want my father to know about: POS (Parent on shoulder)

I just realized now that I, myself, haven’t used a pen and paper in quite a long time. Ever since I started working (and it’s only been a year), pen and paper has been oblivious. It's always computer, computer, computer. Heck! Even my organizer is electronic! I communicate with my distant relatives and friends through emails and messenger. It’s faster and easier.

I hate SMS though. It’s the worse. I hate it when people send me a shortened text message. It kinda’ makes a person illiterate in spelling.

I think that writing someone through pen and paper is more, yes, thoughtful because, well, they get to see your handwriting, never mind if it’s ugly or illegible. You’ll never know your handwriting might be worth something someday.

Here’s something that I copied from Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss, which I just finished reading. It's a little bit related to the topic.

In the 1970s, no educationist would have predicted the explosion in universal written communication caused by the personal computer, the internet and the key-pad of the mobile phone. But now, look what’s happened: everyone’s a writer! Everyone is posting film reviews on Amazon […] Isn’t this sad? People who have been taught nothing about their language are (contrary to educational expectation) spending all their leisure hours attempting to string sentences together for the edification of others. And there is no editing on the internet!

 

[sirmyk]

I hate SMS though. It’s the worse. I hate it when people send me a shortened text message. It kinda’ makes a person illiterate in spelling.

Reminds me of gansta' rap song titles.

 

[SFG75]

Here’s something that I copied from Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss, which I just finished reading. It's a little bit related to the topic.

In the 1970s, no educationist would have predicted the explosion in universal written communication caused by the personal computer, the internet and the key-pad of the mobile phone. But now, look what’s happened: everyone’s a writer! Everyone is posting film reviews on Amazon […] Isn’t this sad? People who have been taught nothing about their language are (contrary to educational expectation) spending all their leisure hours attempting to string sentences together for the edification of others. And there is no editing on the internet!

It would be a great (if not controversial)dissertation topic to see if you can definitely prove a correlation between increased use of technology/computers and declining reading and writing scores. It's amazing to me how shallow the research is in this kind of area. I know, I've tried to look.

 

[aube]

Sorry, my mistake.

 

[francesca]

Just think, generations from now, children will wonder what "LOL," "IMHO," LMFAO," and other things meant. They'll also probably wonder what books were.

Or maybe people will actually say LMAO instead of laughing and books will all be written using abbreviated SMS text....

 

[cajunmama]

I love to write letters. I have a pen pal that I have been writing to for over six years. We exchange about a letter a week. I also write to my grandmother about once a month and she loves them. My husband and I carried out most of our courtship long distance through many, many letters. Letter writing is not a dying art, it just takes more time and effort and in this day and age of instant everything, fewer people are willing to do it. You can hold a hand-written letter in your hand, knowing that whoever sent it to you held that piece of paper, too, it is more personal that a printed out e-mail, and it means that someone took the time to do something especially for you. Maybe I am a tad old-fashioned, heck, one of my hobbies is quiltmaking, but I firmly believe that when someone uses their time to do something like that for you, it is special, because, lets face it, each of us only has so much time. If anyone here wants a real, honest-to-goodness hand-written letter, send me your address and I'll write one to you.

From SFG75

Yes, I believe the quality of language is eroding with greater use of the net and instant messaging. As a history teacher, it amazes me how hard working farmers and ranchers with little to no formal education in the late 19 century, wrote using complex words of four or five syllables. If you want something today that is equally "upt to par" so to speak, you have to read a William F. Buckley jr. column.

Have you seen a 19th century eighth grade final exam?
Here's one
Granted, they studied stuff we consider useless, and kids nowadays study stuff they would have no use for, but for thier time, they were educated.

 

[SFG75]

Have you seen a 19th century eighth grade final exam?
Here's one
Granted, they studied stuff we consider useless, and kids nowadays study stuff they would have no use for, but for thier time, they were educated.

The Kansas 8th grade exam!, what a wonderful read!. In the states, a big thing now is having kids learn the "write traits" writing program. Besides being a phonetical train-wreck, the program essentially has kids learn how to write to a prescribed standard. I don't know how many times I've assigned essays on say-how world war one started, and instead of reading the student's "voice," I get some dry and banal opening lines of: "Have you ever wondered why world war one was fought?" I'm not kidding at all. The kids are tested and then teachers grade their writing based on a rubric for each section. Now imagine this-how in the world did Thoreau or Goethe ever learn how to write without this progarm? And which one would be a better writer according to this program? Both would probably flunk miserably. While it does help the kids improve their writing to a certain degree, it sacrifices the "inner voice" of the writer; it also seems to temper any passion or personal peculiarity in reasoning that they are trying to convey to you in their writing. I look at my profession and sometimes, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

[RainbowGurl]

I wrote a letter a few weeks ago and my handwriting was so bad! Its always been bad, but this was really bad! I need to start writing again before I forget how to write with the old pen and paper

 

[SFG75]

I wrote a letter a few weeks ago and my handwriting was so bad! Its always been bad, but this was really bad! I need to start writing again before I forget how to write with the old pen and paper

My handwriting is downright hideous. I can't decipher it half the time. I've applied for jobs in the past where they required a handwritten essay regarding some topic they thought was important for employment. I never provided any of the places what they requested due to the fact that handwriting analysis is pseudo-science IMHO. Not only that, but my horrible handwriting would probably tell them that I live alone in a spartan like cabin somewhere mumbling to myself.

 

[RainbowGurl]

Not only that, but my horrible handwriting would probably tell them that I live alone in a spartan like cabin somewhere mumbling to myself.

Oh no they must not find that out!

 

[Mari]

Though the Kansas test is a real document, the following urban legends page has some insights on it:

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm

An excerpt:

Consider: To pass this test, no knowledge of the arts is necessary (not even a nodding familiarity with a few of the greatest works of English literature), no demonstration of mathematical learning other than plain arithmetic is required (forget algebra, geometry, or trigonometry), nothing beyond a familiarity with the highlights of American history is needed (never mind the fundamentals of world history, as this exam scarcely acknowledges that any country other than the USA even exists), no questions about the history, structure, or function of the United States government are asked (not even the standard "Name the three branches of our federal government"), science is given a pass except for a few questions about geography and the rudiments of human anatomy, and no competence in any foreign language (living or dead) is necessary.

 

[Kookamoor]

I agree that there is some deterioration in the way many young people write today. A few months ago I related a story about teaching a group of first year university students, and reading one submitted practical report which was written entirely in 'text message' writing. 'Reading' is perhaps a misnomer, as I skimmed it before handing it back as completely unacceptable.

I adore receiving letters, but the time delay can be difficult. With the exception of my older relatives, I correspond to the others by email, so it's hard to write a letter when all the interesting details have already been relayed. I always write postcards when I'm anywhere interesting, because I love receiving them.

The one thing that I do like about email is the ability to keep a copy of the sent message. I spend a long time over emails, like many others have also said, and it's a record of what I was doing at a particular time. In many ways it's almost like a journal entry.

I've read letters from the 19th century and marvelled at the language. I think the reason we don't have such letters these days is more to do with the increased level of familiarity between people. Rather than waxing lyrical people today are more likely to get to the point. It does seem like a certain era of beautiful language has disappeared, but we must also recognise that language is constantly evolving. I think that letter writing should and can remain a staple if you want it to. If nothing else, write to people on their birthdays and for the holidays to maintain the letter-writing traditions.

 

[Elyse Mac]

Oh, this post is definitely for me! I have a web group that I manage based on the lost art of letter writing. We do a pen pal swap, have sections on Emily Post's instructions on "how to write letters," stationary and pen links. Oh... I just love writing letters. I write to everyone on beautiful stationary and use a fountain pen. Ok... I'm going to stop gushing now! But I would like to confess that I feel so Elizabeth Bennett when I write letters.

 

[leckert]

Oh, this post is definitely for me! I have a web group that I manage based on the lost art of letter writing. We do a pen pal swap, have sections on Emily Post's instructions on "how to write letters," stationary and pen links. Oh... I just love writing letters. I write to everyone on beautiful stationary and use a fountain pen. Ok... I'm going to stop gushing now! But I would like to confess that I feel so Elizabeth Bennett when I write letters.

You're such a girl... gawd!

I write hand-written letters to my grandmother in Ohio, and to my friends in Germany. I have always felt more "in touch" with my words when I write with a pen rather than a keyboard. Amazingly, I tend to get hand-written letters in return when I send them out! That is cool.

 

[cajunmama]

Though the Kansas test is a real document, the following urban legends page has some insights on it:

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm

An excerpt:

Consider: To pass this test, no knowledge of the arts is necessary (not even a nodding familiarity with a few of the greatest works of English literature), no demonstration of mathematical learning other than plain arithmetic is required (forget algebra, geometry, or trigonometry), nothing beyond a familiarity with the highlights of American history is needed (never mind the fundamentals of world history, as this exam scarcely acknowledges that any country other than the USA even exists), no questions about the history, structure, or function of the United States government are asked (not even the standard "Name the three branches of our federal government"), science is given a pass except for a few questions about geography and the rudiments of human anatomy, and no competence in any foreign language (living or dead) is necessary.

I read that , too.
Like I said, we need to know stuff now that they had no use for and they had to know stuff then that we have no use for. Most of the students taking that test had absolutely no use for a foreign language, or history of any country other than the U.S., chances were that they were never going to travel more than 100 miles from the spot they were born. They were never going to need algebra, trigonometry or geometry. Most of them were going on to a life of farming, child-raising, maybe shop-keeping, and if they were going to need a higher education that that, they would either get it on the job, say, as a carpenter's apprentice, or they would go on to higher learning and get it there. And I am very sure that few eighth grade students nowadays will have any use for the ability to figure out arithmetic question #3. Orthography? I'm not even sure what that is! And they knew more about grammar than I did in the eighth grade. The world they lived in and the world we live in now are two totally different places, needing two totally different educations.

 

[Kookamoor]

Oh, this post is definitely for me! I have a web group that I manage based on the lost art of letter writing. We do a pen pal swap, have sections on Emily Post's instructions on "how to write letters," stationary and pen links. Oh... I just love writing letters. I write to everyone on beautiful stationary and use a fountain pen. Ok... I'm going to stop gushing now! But I would like to confess that I feel so Elizabeth Bennett when I write letters.

Ooo! That sounds really neat! Do you have a website??

I just *adore* stationary, and I could spend a fortune on letter paper and envelopes given the chance (ie: cash). Unfortunately my handwriting never does the paper justice. I also love beautiful pens, especially those with thick dark ink, and those sparkly ones that really sparkle on the page. Great for writing on black backing in photo albums

Oh, that reminds me... I read a short story (I think it was a short story) a while ago about a woman who hid stationary in her back shed because she wanted to go into the stationary store and see a man who worked there. It wasn't an affair, she was just obsessed with seeing him because he was handsome. He didn't know how she felt, nor did her husband. Man, I'd love to read that again. Must post this in the Book Search.

 

[leckert]

Unfortunately my handwriting never does the paper justice. I also love beautiful pens, especially those with thick dark ink, and those sparkly ones that really sparkle on the page. Great for writing on black backing in photo albums

Kooky,

This is why I stick with the simple. A steno pad and a click-top ink pen. Anything I do to that is an improvement!

 

[lies]

I adore receiving letters, but the time delay can be difficult.

That is a bit of a problem, yes.

 

[sirmyk]

Everything I first write is first handwritten...